Genus CENTROPUS. 

 Bill very strong, high at base, well curved throughout. Nostrils lateral, and protected by a 

 membrane. Wings rounded, the 6th quill the longest. Tail long, wide, considerably graduated. 

 Tarsi stout and shielded with broad transverse scales, longer than the anterior toe with its claw. 

 Toes stoutly scaled; hind claw very long and straight. Feathers of the head, neck, and throat 

 spinous. 



CENTROPUS R17FIPENNIS. 



(THE COMMON COUCAL.) 



Centropus rufipennis, Illiger, Abhandl. Akad. Wiss. Berl. (1812) p. 224; Horsf. & Moore, 

 Cat. B. Mus. E. I. Co. ii. p. 681 (1856); Jerdon, B. of Ind. i. p. 318 (1862); Holds- 

 worth, P. Z. S. 1872, p. 433 ; Jerdon, Ibis, 1872, p. 15 ; Hume, Nests and Eggs (Rough 

 Draft), p. 142 (1873); Legge, Ibis, 1874, p. 16; Morgan, Ibis, 1875, p. 315. 



Centropus philippensis, Sykes, P. Z. S. 1832, p. 98 ; Blyth, J. A. S. B. 1842, p. 1099 ; id. 

 Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1847, p. 385 ; id. Cat. B. Mus. A. S. B. p. 78 (1849) ; Kelaart, 

 Prodromus, Cat. p. 128 (1852) ; Layard, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1854, xiii. p. 450. 



Centropus castanqpterus, Steph. Gen. Zool. xiv. i. p. 215 (1826). 



Centropus pyrrhopterus, Jerdon, Cat. B. S. Ind., Madr. Journ. 1840, xi. p. 224. 



Centrococcyx rufipennis, Ball, Str. Feath. 1874, p. 394; Fairbank, Str. Feath. 1877, p. 397. 



The Philippine Ground-Cuckoo, Kelaart ; The " Crow-Pheasant" Europeans in India and 

 Ceylon, also " Jungle-Crow," in Ceylon ; " Lark-heeled Cuckoo" Jerdon's Catalogue. 



Mahoka, Hind. ; Kuka, Beng. ; Marmowa, at Monghyr ; Jemudu-kaki, lit. " Euphorbia 

 Hedge-Crow," Tel. ; Kalli-kaka, lit. " Hedge-Crow," Tarn. (Jerdon). 



JEtti-kukkula, Sinhalese ; Chembigum, Ceylonese Tamils. 



Adult mill: and female. Length 17'5 to 18*5 inches; wing 7'3 to 8-1; tail 9 - 5 to 10'0 ; tarsus 1*9 to 2-0 j outer 

 anterior toe (with claw) 1-75 to 1-9 ; hind toe 0-6, its claw 0-8 to - 83 ; bill to gape 1-65 to l-S-3. 



Females appear to average larger than males. 



Iris vermilion ; eyelid blackish leaden ; bill black ; legs and feet black. 



Entire plumage, with the exception of the scapulars and wing-coverts (which are glossy cinnamon-rufous) black, dull 

 on the crown and throat, and with the hind neck and its sides, as well as the chest and upper breast, illumined 

 with steel-blue edgings, blending into a greenish hue at the centres of the feathers ; these hues are brightest on the 

 hi ml neck : back, rump, and Hanks moderately glossed with greenish ; tail-feathers glossed with green, mostly on 

 the four lateral feathers ; forehead and chin brownish, gradually darkening into the hue of the crowm and throat 

 respectively; tips of the quills smoky brown; scapulars somewhat darker rufous than the wings ; under wing- 

 coverts shaded with blackish. 



The gloss on the tail-feathers varies in individuals : in some the central pair have scarcely any, the ground-colour 

 partaking -lightly, if examined carefully, of a ruddy-brown hue. 



Young. The yearling bird has the head and nape marked with rufous stria?: hind neck barred with fulvous; scapidars 

 and wings crossed with rather broad bars of blackish ; tail barred with spear-shaped bands of dusky whitish : 

 throat-feathers centered and barred with fulvous ; breast and thighs the same. 



The above description of the young is from an Indian individual ; I have not had the opportunity of examining 

 Ceylonese examples in the immature stage, but they have been described to me as similar to the one here 

 noticed. 



